| Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. Private equity’s long history in healthcare investing surely means that GPs have tapped every nook and cranny of the sector, right? Wrong, according to Sullivan Street Partners’ Layton Tamberlin. He talks us through his firm’s acquisition of UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT) and why there are opportunities in this niche. Next, we’ve got a pair of deals in sectors that private equity has tapped heavily lately – wealth management and cybersecurity. Oaktree Capital Management is investing in the former while EQT has made an exit in the latter. Finally, the Federal Reserve may have joined other major central banks like the European Central Bank and Bank of England in embarking on a rate cutting cycle yesterday, but private equity firms are still unsure about the path of rates and the impact on their funding costs – if their hedging behavior is anything to go by. Benoit Duhil de Benaze of Chatham Financial talks us through how his private equity clients are navigating what is still a tricky course. ‘So niche’ Sullivan Street Partners believes it can improve professionalism within the “untapped” addiction treatment segment of healthcare and grow the facilities of UKAT, managing partner Layton Tamberlin told PE Hub reporter Nina Lindholm. Read the premium version of the Wire to find out why Sullivan Street is attracted to the sector and check out the full article for more on UKAT’s history and why criticism of private equity involvement in healthcare “infuriates” Tamberlin. Busy sectors From niche markets to well-trodden ones. Yesterday we talked in the Europe Wire about how private equity just can’t get enough of wealth management, and lo and behold there was another deal this morning. Oaktree Capital Management has agreed to buy Close Brothers Group’s wealth management unit Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM). Check out the premium version of the Wire for details including the deal size. Meanwhile, in Tuesday’s US Wire we focused on the boom in cybersecurity. Yesterday in the evening London time, EQT agreed to sell Open Systems to Swiss Post. Collar me cautious Central banks are in dovish territory, now that the Fed has joined the ECB and BoE in cutting rates for the first time since the post-covid pandemic spike in inflation. While in theory that should mean cheaper debt for dealmakers – and thus more deals – many are still cautious about what’s ahead. Benoit Duhil de Benaze, a London-based managing director on risk manager Chatham Financial's European private equity hedging and capital markets team, told me why. Find out more in the premium version of the Wire. So, with the Fed, ECB and BoE entering rate cutting cycles, are we going to get a dealmaking boom? Email me your thoughts at craig.m@pei.group That’s all from me today. Michael Schoeck is on US Wire duty later today, while Irien Joseph will write to you in the European morning tomorrow. Cheers, Craig Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 